Rod grease cup



March 26, 1940, R." J. FlNCl-l 2,194,931

ROD- GREAB cur Filed Oct. 2. 1937' INVENTOR Fig; and JF/IIC/I BY 6) ATTW Patented Mar. 26, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT oFrlcE ROD GREASE OUP Raymond J. Finch, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to American Locomotive Company,"New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 2, 1937, Serial No. 166,917

1 Claim.

face of the rod for lubrication thereof, and eX tending entirely through the rod from top to bottom.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a cup of the aforementioned. characteristics communicating means between the cup and bearing whereby the cup will serve in a similar inanner when the rod is inverted, thereby permitting the same rod to be reversible for use oneither side of the locomotive.

The invention is admirably adapted for rods of the so-called solid-ended or headed type, al-

though it is not limited to this type. Nevertheless for convenience of illustration it is shown in con-. nection with such a type of rod. The drawing shows a well-known type of side rod and articulated main rod and therefore but a brief description thereof will be necessary.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan of the rod assemblage, in connection with which the present invention is illustrated, showing the crank pins and portions of the driving wheels; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line III-III of Fig. 2, the rod being broken away; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on the line IV-,IV of Fig. 2, the rods being broken away; Fig. 5 is a fragmental section of the upper half of the articulation, that on the left being taken on the line V-V, and that on theright being taken on the line V"-- of Fig. 4, a grease fitting being shown in elevation; Fig. 6 is a section of the upper, half of the rod end shown in Fig. 3, taken on the line VIVI thereof, the grease fitting being shown in elevation; Fig. 7 is a fragmental elevatiornon a reduced scale, of a modified form of rod embodying the invention; and Fig. 8 is an end view of the portion of the rod of Fig. '7, viewed from the right thereof.

The rod assemblage shown is adapted for a locomotive having three driving wheels on each side. Portions of the driving wheels are shown and indicated by the reference numerals l for the forward driving wheel, 2 for the main driving wheel, and 3 for the rear driving wheel. In these wheels are secured in the usual manner respectively the crank pins 4, 5 and 6. .As before mentioned the rods are of the solid-ended type, the side rod 1 being connected to the pins 4 and 5, and the articulated main rod, formed of rods 8 and 9, being connected to pins 5 and 8, the articulation of the main rod beingconnected to the pin 5. g I r 5;! li -Iii The ends of the rods'l, 8 and 9 are considerably enlarged in the usual manner to provide sufficient stock at these ends, which are bored for mounting them on their respective pins. The bores are provided with the usual bushings, the rear'bore of the rod 9 and the front and rearbores of the rod 7 being provided in each instancefwith a fixed bushing I0 and-a fioating 'bushing II. The front end of the rod 9 is provided with a fixed bushing l2 and fits between the furcations of the forked rear end of the rod 8. The rods 8 and 9 at the articulation are connected by a sleeve l3 within which is a floating bushingM, all according to usual practice. The bushings l0 are provided each with a lubricating groove l5 (these grooves in the bushings of rod? not being shown), the bushing'l2 with a lubricating groove l6 and the sleeve is with two lubricating grooves ii. The bushings l0, l2 and sleeve l3 are provided with orifices'at their respective grooves. and the floating bushings are provided'with orificesjso that lubricant supplied to the grooves will pass to the inner face of the sleeve, fixed bushings and floating bushings to lubricate, the working v,surfaces in the usual manner; These features form no part of the present invention, it only being necesasry that means be provided whereby the lubricant (coming from the cup or cups) will find its way to the surfaces to be lubricated. In the presentinstance the lubricant from the cups enters the grooves IS, IS and ll and from these grooves in the manner aforedes'cribed reachesthe bearing surfaces to be lubricated- Referring now more particularly to the present invention, it will be understood that the grease I It has been stated that in the solid-ended type.

of rod, the ends are enlarged but it maybe here noted that in generalpractice in all types of rods the ends are enlarged. They areusually solid as in the present illustration at the portion inwardly of the pinorifi'ce and adjacent thereto andthis portion is usually wider, that is to say, thicker from top tobottom than is the body ofthe rod, this increase of metal being desired to aiford sufiicient strength adjacent the orifice. This feature is taken advantage of in thepresent invention and this portion is bored from top to bottom to provide a vertical cup lit "for the lubricant.

On account of the comparatively greater length l i of the cup, the bore may be made relatively small in the cup falls below this upper passage.

in diameter and thereby a cup of comparatively large capacity provided without unduly weakening the ends of the rods as would be the case if a short cup having equal capacity by providing a larger bore were employed. Furthermore by continuing the bore throughout the depth of the head uniformity of strength of m terial is obtained.

The grooves l5 and i6 arepreferably placed in the vertical central plane of their respective rods and the grooves H are preferably placed in the vertical central plane of the respective furcations. Accordingly the respective cups are preferably disposed in these respective vertical planes.

The endsof the cups are provided with threads IS; A standard alemite fitting 20 is screwed in the upper end and a plug 2| is screwed in the lower end, although another alemite fitting may be screwed in the lower end if desired. While in the present instance an alemite fitting is shown it is to be understood that any other type of fitting may be substituted therefor. The threaded ends of the cup may be slightly enlarged as shown to accommodate standard fittings.

As already stated the cup will serve equally as well when the rod is inverted in which case the fittings at the ends of the cup will be interchanged, as the alemite fitting which is for filling the cup with lubricant in the usual manner should preferably be at the top where it is more accessible.

It has been previously stated that the cup is in communication with the surface or surfaces to be lubricated. This communication can be through an orifice disposed at the horizontal center of the cup connecting the cup with the surface or more strictly in the present instance with the groove which communicates with the bearing surfaces to be lubricated as already described. Such a disposed orifice would be suitable to render the rod capable of being inverted for use on the opposite side of the locomotive but it would not afford maximum capacity for the available grease, as the grease in the cup below the orifice would not so readily find its way to the surface to be lubricated. Therefore in the preferred embodiment the communication is afforded by a passage 22 disposed well below the horizontal center line thereby giving greater available grease capacity, and another passage 23 is provided preferably at an equal distance above the horizontal center line for use when the rod is inverted, although of course the upper passage in each instance will convey lubricant until the lubricant Nevertheless in any event, the violent oscillating movement of the rod will tend to convey the grease to a passage even when the surface of the grease is below such passage.

While it has been stated that the bores forming the cups are made vertical it is to be understood that the invention is not so limited and that vertical when used in the specification and claims is intended to also include cups disposed in a general vertical direction. Nevertheless a strictly vertical cup is preferable as it lends what similar to the rod 8 which is a common practice of constructing rods to maintain lightness and strength. The rod 24 is further provided with a channel 26 formed around the head thereof. The ribs thus formed by providing the channel add stiffness to the rod end to better withstand elongation of the bore, the channel at the same time adding to the lightness of the rod and providing a favorable location for the grease cup 21'. The grease cup 21 is similar to the grease cups previously described. It is disposed in alignment with the chamiel 26 and the top and bottom ends 28 of the cup are flush with the bottom of the channel.

Power transmitting rods are designed as to shape and distribution of metal in a manner to give the required strength, and to accommodate them to the permissible space. It will be noted that the cup is placed at the strongest part of the rod and on account of its relatively small cross section does not unduly weaken the rod and does not require a change in design or appreciable change in distribution of metal. It is entirely within the rod and lessens rather than increases the weight and furthermore maintains the balance and smoothness of operation, thereby having the advantage over other types of lubricant containing cups, as for instance the commonly employed type that is located at the top of the rod over the bearing and is formed by adding considerable metal and therefore weight to the rod, and furthermore operates to disturb the balances and smoothness of operation.

By drilling the rods to form the grease cups as above described, naturally bunched metal where the cups are formed is removed and a rod of symmetrical sections results. This gives better balanced stresses, enabling the use of lighter rods.

While there has been hereinbefore described an approved embodiment of this invention, it will be understood that many and various changes and modifications in form, arrangement of parts and details of construction thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and that all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claim are contemplated as a part of this invention.

The invention claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A locomotive power transmission rod, invertible to adapt it for use on either side of a locomotive, comprising a rod-like portion and a thickened head provided with a horizontal orifice for mounting it upon a driving wheel crank pin; a cylindrical bore entirely within said head disposed laterally of said orifice adjacent the wall thereof with its axis substantially vertical and at a right angle to the axis of said orifice providing a cylindrical chamber unobstructed throughout for containing lubricant, said chamber and orifice being in communication through their walls for the passage of lubricant from said chamber to said orifice; a mouth for a closure disposed outwardly from each end of said chamber, said mouths extending axially thereof to the exterior through opposite faces of said head; and a closure in each month detachably secured thereto by threaded connection therewith, said closures being entirely separate and independent of each other, the inner face of each closure forming an endface of said chamber.

RAYMOND J. FINCH. 

